Composite frozen products are very popular with consumers. Such products are exemplified by ice cream cones which comprise a crisp edible receptacle (e.g. a wafer cone) which is at least partially filled with a frozen confection (e.g. ice cream). Hand-made ice cream cones have been known for decades. They are made by placing a scoop of a frozen confection in the opening at the top of a wafer cone and are served directly to the consumer. They are sometimes augmented by the insertion of a chocolate flake, chocolate straw, wafer segment, wafer tube, and the like into the scoop of frozen confection. Sauces such as fruit sauces, fruit purees, syrups, chocolate sauces, and the like can be poured over the scoop of frozen confection. Toppings such as chocolate pieces, nut pieces, and other confectionary can be sprinkled over the frozen confection. A particularly attractive feature of these products to consumers is the crisp cone. Consumers have long expressed a preference for the juxtaposition between the cold ice cream and the contrasting dry, crisp wafer of the cone.
Composite frozen products are not just made by hand. For many years, composite frozen products, in particular ice cream cones, have also been produced on an industrial scale in which the products are pre-made in a factory prior to being packaged and distributed to the consumer via point-of-sale outlets where the pre-made cone products are sold. Such products are also popular with consumers due to their crisp cone but, in contrast to hand made products, are usually filled with a frozen confection which is extruded into the wafer cone and which fills the cone from the tip/bottom of the cone to the top. Such products are typified by the Cornetto™ product. These mass-produced products can also be provided with additional decorative features, especially fluted tops. The provision of fluted tops means that the product does not have a rounded top typical of scooped products and it is therefore distinguished from hand-made products. The fluting provides the surface of the product with an elegant appearance that has radial segments defined by ridges which radiate from the centre of the product out to the edge. The ridges are separated from one another by troughs. Such a segmented, fluted structure is visually appealing to the consumer. It provides a novel and symmetrical structure to the top of the product. It also gives an attractive appearance when a sauce is applied because the sauce runs into the troughs of the segments but the ridges are largely free from the sauce. It also allows any toppings to fall into the troughs but to leave the ridges largely visible. Fluted structures are typically achieved by extruding the frozen confection into the cone using a filling means which has a nozzle having star-shaped opening or a nozzle having slits emanating from the opening. Such nozzles extrude the frozen confection in a stream having star-shaped cross section. The frozen confection spreads out inside the cone but the last part of the dosing where the frozen confection is extruded onto the top of the product does not push against the sides of the cone. At this point, the star-shaped cross section of the extruded ice cream flow then manifests itself in the fluted top wherein the top of the product has segments defined by the ridges and troughs. The ridges that radiate from the centre of the product correspond to the points of the star shape of the extruded stream. The troughs correspond to the sections between the points of the stars.
Composite frozen products are further enhanced by the use of fat-based coatings, typically chocolate coatings, which are used to coat the interior and sometimes the exterior of the cone. Typically the coating is used to coat the internal surface of the cone which comes into contact with the frozen confection. The coating provides an enhanced eating experience through texture, flavour and visual appearance. It also acts as a moisture barrier between the frozen confection and the edible receptacle. The intention is that it prolongs the crispness of the edible receptacle during storage.
However, the performance of the fat-based coating as a moisture barrier requires improvement to ensure that the edible receptacle stays crisper for longer. Moreover, this is particularly required for mass-produced products that have fluted tops.